This is a list of notable alumni in the Clarion West Writers Workshop, a six-week workshop for writers of science fiction, fantasy, and speculative literature, held annually in Seattle, Washington.
Geoffrey Alan Landis is an American aerospace engineer and author, working for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on planetary exploration, interstellar propulsion, solar power and photovoltaics. He holds nine patents, primarily in the field of improvements to solar cells and photovoltaic devices and has given presentations and commentary on the possibilities for interstellar travel and construction of bases on the Moon, Mars, and Venus.
Clarion is an American six-week workshop for aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers. Originally an outgrowth of Damon Knight's and Kate Wilhelm's Milford Writers' Conference, held at their home in Milford, Pennsylvania, United States, it was founded in 1968 by Robin Scott Wilson at Clarion State College in Pennsylvania. Knight and Wilhelm were among the first teachers at the workshop.
Ted Chiang is an American science fiction writer. His work has won four Nebula awards, four Hugo awards, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and six Locus awards. His short story "Story of Your Life" was the basis of the film Arrival (2016). He was an artist in residence at the University of Notre Dame in 2020–2021. Chiang is also a frequent non-fiction contributor to the New Yorker Magazine, most recently on topics related to computer technology, such as artificial intelligence.
Kate Wilhelm was an American author. She wrote novels and stories in the science fiction, mystery, and suspense genres, including the Hugo Award–winning Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang. Wilhelm established the Clarion Workshop along with her husband Damon Knight and writer Robin Scott Wilson.
Vonda Neel McIntyre was an American science fiction writer and biologist.
Patrick James Nielsen Hayden, is an American science fiction editor, fan, fanzine publisher, essayist, reviewer, anthologist, teacher and blogger. He is a World Fantasy Award and Hugo Award winner, and is an editor and the Manager of Science Fiction at Tor Books.
Kelly Link is an American editor and writer. Mainly known as an author of short stories, she published her first novel The Book of Love in 2024. While some of her fiction falls more clearly within genre categories, many of her stories might be described as slipstream or magic realism: a combination of science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, and realism. Among other honors, she has won a Hugo award, three Nebula awards, and a World Fantasy Award for her fiction, and she was one of the recipients of the 2018 MacArthur "Genius" Grant.
Kelley Eskridge is an American writer of fiction, non-fiction and screenplays. Her work is generally regarded as speculative fiction and is associated with the more literary edge of the category, as well as with the category of slipstream fiction.
Andy Duncan is an American science fiction and fantasy writer whose work frequently deals with Southern U.S. themes.
Paul Claiborne Park is an American science fiction author and fantasy author. He taught literature and writing in the Williams College English Department and the Graduate Program in Art History, retiring as a senior lecturer in 2022. He also taught at the Clarion West writing workshop and the Clarion Workshop and was an instructor at Clarion West in 2011.
Clarion West or Clarion West Writers Workshop is a nonprofit literary organization that runs an acclaimed six-week residential workshop every summer, online classes and workshops, one-day and weekend workshops, a reading series every summer, and other events throughout the year.
K. Tempest Bradford is an African-American science fiction and fantasy author and editor. She was a non-fiction and managing editor with Fantasy Magazine from 2007 to 2009 and has edited fiction for Peridot Books, The Fortean Bureau, and Sybil's Garage. She is the author of Ruby Finley vs. the Interstellar Invasion, her debut middle grade novel published in 2022, which won the Andre Norton Award in 2023.
Rachel Swirsky is an American literary, speculative fiction and fantasy writer, poet, and editor living in Oregon. She was the founding editor of the PodCastle podcast and served as editor from 2008 to 2010. She served as vice president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2013.
Gregory Norman Bossert is an American writer and filmmaker. He has won the World Fantasy Award and is a finalist for the Sturgeon Award. He lives in Marin County, California and works at Industrial Light & Magic.
Kat Howard is an American author and editor. Her stories have been published in the anthologies Stories, and Oz Reimagined. She is also a contributor to magazines such as Lightspeed, Subterranean, Uncanny Magazine and Apex. She attended the Clarion Writers Workshop in 2008. She is a 2018 recipient of the Alex Awards.